Positive Feelings

Infatuation with speed is a characteristic of our times. We live in the fastest phase of human history. That can lead to what Larry Dossey in 1982 termed time-sickness, as we become fearful of missing out. The ability to stay with the discomfort of life’s paradoxes and our own ignorance and to remain patient and still while questions and answers grow in never-ending cycles, requires a certain mental toughness that seems to be on its way out in a world in a hurry.

Savoring what we’ve accomplished helps us experience gratitude for the good things in our lives, which puts us in a better frame of mind than just grinding it out. Then we can invest in the six areas that we know have value for us in the long run. These areas fuel us with the sustenance we need to make life worth living. When we do that, we change our to-do’s into ta-da’s.

We all have our own little bubbles of fear resting deep within us. Our relationships with our children take us back to these bubbles. I am beginning to recognize my reactions as based on these fears and to forgive myself for being human, so I can embark on the journey to change. I am reconnecting to my own goodness and beginning to embrace the parts of me that want to love unconditionally and accept non-judgmentally.

Get your Netflix queue ready. Fire up the On-Demand services of your cable TV. Because it’s time for an annual PPND tradition since 2009, the positive psychology movie awards! These awards go to films that offer some of the best portrayals of key themes in positive psychology. 2014 was a very strong year for positive psychology movies. Here are the winners:

Self-compassion is a way of relating to ourselves kindly, as we truly are, flaws and all.

This article contains an invitation to the Saturday party at IPPA on June 27 to benefit programs for hospitalized children by Soaring Words.

In practice, people find it surprisingly challenging to come up with new ways to use their signature strengths. Perhaps that’s because we often use our signature strengths without much awareness. For example, have you paid much attention to your use of self-regulation as you brush your teeth? Your level of prudence or kindness while driving?

Here are three tips for using your signature strengths in mindful ways.

At a recent workshop at Esalen in Big Sur, experts from UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center “explored the roots of personal happiness and offered concrete, science-based approaches to boosting happiness in one’s self and others.“

Now I turn my attention to the practice side of the International Symposium on Contemplative Studies. Here’s a practice that I experienced at the conference and how it affected my well-being. I include step-by-step instructions for trying it out at home.

Of the 470 presenters at ISCS, none had a message more compelling than that of Tania Singer, a social neuroscientist from The Max Planck Institute. Singer seems vitally alive as she presents her work, a scientist who has clearly found her calling and is excited to share her findings. She is also studying a neglected type of motivation, Affiliation Motivation. Like many others there, she is embarked on the quest described by the Dalai Lama in the closing speech, “How can we take knowledge from science and apply it in the service of humanity?”

The Mind & Life International Symposium on Contemplative Studies was a beautiful mix of opportunities to learn about the scientific study of contemplative practices and to experience the practices themselves. In this first article on the conference, I explore why this area of study is booming and why it matters that aging brains are more plastic than once thought.

This Thursday, March 26, you are invited to a free webinar on Love & Purpose. Why put these two topics together? Read on.

My twins’ busy schedules had become a source of worry for me. Rare were the moments when I saw them relax with a storybook, while the afternoon away with friends, or unwind by throwing hoops in the basketball net.

So I made taking time out a priority.

I interviewed positive psychology pioneer Barbara Fredrickson on her views of psychology as a science, why it’s important to study positive psychology, what are her favorite topics to study, and what are her primary sources of positive emotion.

The world needs peace right now. The world needs you to increase your mindfulness. So, thank you for practicing and building your mindfulness muscle. When the alarm goes off tomorrow morning, take a slow and low cleansing breath and remember to express gratitude for another day to be alive.

Having recently completed the dissertation for my MAPP program, I can now reflect on the final few weeks before my submission. I felt pressured, had a drop in overall well-being, and struggled to get into flow. Worse still, I wasn’t great company to be around. I thought to myself, as a student and researcher of positive psychology, how could I be unhappy and not flourishing? But at least I wasn’t languishing. What kept me from dipping into languishing?

Like the burgeoning global MAPP programs springing up around the world, the high quality Certificate in Applied Positive Psychology (CAPP) experience leads people toward whole health, well-being, healing, flourishing, and love across all domains of life. CAPP is relatively accessible with more locations being established worldwide. It is helping to bring Martin Seligman’s 2051 moonshot goal to fruition.

Emotions evolved over millennia to ensure our survival. Each one has a purpose. It reminds us to call attention, take action, avoid the situation, reach out to others, give back, feel connected, and a myriad of other thought-action repertoires that ensure not only our survival but also our well-being in life. Compassion meditation helps us to acknowledge the message in our emotions. Think of the subconscious mind as the captain of our ship under the seas. We would do well to be attentive to his call, hear his message and then guide him from our vantage point above the waters.

I was attracted to the course, Mindfulness: Practice, Theory and Applications precisely because it covered both theoretical and practical aspects of mindfulness. I learned about using the body to increase mindfulness, about uses of mindfulness in therapy, and about mindfulness as a life style.

Some people might be scared by a thunderstorm while others might be awed. In those moments, the person with the strength of Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence is able to transcend ego and instead be moved to an awareness of the vastness and amazement that the world has to offer. Time slows down. In such moments a person may feel drawn to future opportunities for using this strength.

On July 31, I joined around 500 other people in London to hear a talk on The Science of Happiness by Dr Tal Ben-Shahar. Anyone who can engage undergraduates on the scale that he did at Harvard must have something very special to offer. He focused on three themes: paying attention, asking the right questions, and appreciation.